THE BIG INTERVIEW DREW BRAZER, LEGO UK 21
Brazer made the move to Lego’s Slough offices (below) in May 2011...
were so dependent on movie IPs we knew we had to create more stability in our business. And that’s when we got pretty serious about addressing City and developing our own homegrown properties like Ninjago. “That has done very well too.
We’ve exceeded last year’s sales by around 30 per cent. And City is our number one property – and the number two toy property in the UK. So for us to have our own IP competing with movie properties is pretty good. You can expect many of those same properties to drive our business next year.”
DUPLO AND DIGITAL One product Lego is working especially hard at developing right now is its pre-school Duplo line. It is using the Disney Princess licence and its own Read and Build range to grow the brand. The latter lets parents read a book with their kids and build a story-related piece of Duplo along the way. Brazer comments: “We’re much stronger with older boys than the pre-school kids and we think it’s strategically important for us to get people involved with Lego at ages two, three and four. “There’s opportunity for us to improve there, and I think you’ll see our marketing and product development efforts improve quite a bit in the Duplo range. “We are looking at price value and making sure we have a compelling, good value-for-money Duplo offer. “Disney Princess is a great licence for Duplo. And Read and Build is a good example of using innovation to engage children with Lego at an early age,” Brazer continues. Lego is a highly marketable product, and the brand enjoys TV
ads, outdoor campaigns and print promotions, much like other companies. However, it is also very strong online. And that’s another way of grabbing the attention of younger kids. There are over one million fan- generated Lego videos on YouTube, and the brand has exploded in the world of video games, too. “Our product comes alive in a digital format,” says Brazer. “When you look at these computer generated short films of Star Wars or Ninjago, I think the humour of Lego really comes through.
Our most valuable asset
is our brand. It’s very special. The love affair between our brand and the consumer is unlike anything I’ve
ever seen. Drew Brazer, VP & GM, UK & Ireland, Lego
“Boys are also engaged with Lego video games. The games create tremendous interest for them to go out and buy the physical product. And just because Lego Universe didn’t work out as a commercial success, doesn’t mean we won’t continue to look for opportunities in that space.”
FRESH COMPETITION The successful video games are just one example of why Lego is the envy of many a toy firm.
Its iconic brick toy works well with licences and creative possibilities are almost limitless.
So it’s no surprise to see more rival construction toys on the market today, not to mention blind bag-style pocket money products, which compete with the top-selling range of £1.99 Lego Minifigure packs. Brazer says Lego has one thing those other companies don’t. “I think our most valuable asset is our brand,” he says. “It’s very special. The love affair between our brand and the consumer is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We’ve got a lot of unique touch points that other toy companies don't have. We have the Lego club magazine which has 390,000 subscribers, Legoland Windsor and Manchester’s Legoland Discovery Centre. We have probably the best product developers in the world in Billund, Denmark. “But we realise that the pocket money business has grown a lot in toys. There are new products and competitors coming out all the time. For us to continue to be relevant, we have to innovate. “All we try to do with our Minifigures is come out with new characters that are interesting. So far it’s enabled us to be number one. I don’t know if that will always be the case, but it is a substantial part of our business and we think it’s great.” You can pick apart the reasons for Lego’s ongoing success and market domination, but ultimately it comes down to that simple brick design that has resonated so well with consumers and stood the test of time. “It’s innovation and we never want to become complacent,” says Brazer. “I think again eight or nine years ago you could say maybe we were a little complacent, and we ran into trouble. That lesson is still in the back of our minds. We can’t rest on our laurels and we can’t be complacent.”
‘Lego stores can benefit retailers’
LEGO HAS seven of its own-brand shops in the UK, which, like Apple stores, give consumers a specialist and interactive experience. This customer involvement is something Lego says can actually aid the High Street in general, including independent toy retailers, as it introduces users to new Lego products. Lego’s UK and Ireland VP and GM
Drew Brazer tells ToyNews: “It’s interesting using Apple as an example, because I feel it is a brand that engages people. It’s like a lifestyle brand. And we view ourselves as one. A dedicated retail shop for a lifestyle brand can work because it immerses the consumer. “The Lego stores aren’t our
largest outlet for the products, but we think they’re very strategic because they provide the ultimate Lego experience. Putting a store in a market or a mall creates tremendous interest in Lego. “And we think this benefits the
entire marketplace, so a consumer could perhaps leave one of our stores without buying anything, but then go into a Toys R Us store and buy something there. “So we feel by strategically placing those stores, we create such an interest, that all the retailers within that marketplace will ultimately benefit from it. And I have to say that small independent retailers are a great way to showcase our brand. They’re not the largest, even collectively, but they’re very strategic and important to us.”
SEPTEMBER 2012
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